Most Impressive
by Vialco
Summary: On Geonosis, Mace Windu makes a decision that changes the course of galactic history.
1. The End of an Era

The Geonosian sun hung high in the sky, its unforgiving rays burning down on the petranaki arena and all its inhabitants.

In the shade of the Archduke's box, Count Dooku of Serenno stood tall and straight, the epitome of dignity and grace.

His Separatist cohorts flanked him, proud Poggle, the Lord of all Geonosis, his black eyes watching the execution with glee.

Nute Gunray leaned over the edge of the box; his greedy eyes alight with glee as the object of his hatred was savaged by the nexu.

The Neimoidian's glee turned to outrage as the Senator from Naboo swung around the execution pole in an admirable display of grace and struck the nexu in the belly.

The vicious feline fell to the arena floor and began to circle the pole again, wounded and subdued.

Gunray gave voice to his outrage in heavily accented Basic, "This isn't how it's supposed to be," he shouted as Skywalker charged in on the reek, the proverbial white knight to the rescue.

The Viceroy of the Trade Federation turned to Jango Fett in fury, "Jango," he commanded, "Finish her off."

The scarred bounty hunter didn't even acknowledge the Neimoidian's bellows; only one being in the box could give him orders.

Dooku simply smiled, "Patience, Viceroy, patience, she will die."

He had to admit, the three prisoners were resourceful, but Gunray's fears were unfounded.

He saw an echo of Qui-Gon Jinn in Obi-Wan and Anakin's fighting styles.

For a moment, Dooku allowed himself to recall the impetuous young man that had been like a son to Dooku. That son had become a man and had passed his teachings on to his own student, who had considered him family.

In a way, the two men who fought on the sands below were grandson and great-grandsons to Dooku. Both could trace their training back to Qui-Gon Jinn. And Dooku had taught Qui-Gon everything he had known.

But like Qui-Gon, the two Jedi did not know when the fight was lost.

Bronze droidekas rolled out from the arena caverns and swiftly surrounded the two Jedi and their Senator companion.

As Dooku prepared to give the command to fire, he felt a slight pang of regret at destroying the last remnants of Qui-Gon Jinn's legacy.

He opened his mouth to order the execution and a column of amethyst fire blossomed through his chest.

Dooku gasped in agony and stared at the violet lightsaber protruding through his chest.

Even with pain clouding his mind, Dooku knew who had, quite literally stabbed him in the back.

Calling on his last reserves of strength, Dooku turned his head to face his old comrade in arms.

"Master Windu," he managed to gasp, "Most impressive."

The dark-skinned Jedi Master stared at Dooku with an expression of stone.

The purple blade vanished from his chest and Dooku slumped forward against the balcony rail.

The last thing he knew was the sound of Jango Fett's blasters firing and the brilliant radiance of a hundred lightsabers igniting on the arena floor.

Then there was only blackness.


	2. Chapter 2

Mace Windu was a storm in the Force, his violet lightsaber moving in a blur, deflecting every one of Jango Fett's shots.

The bounty hunter had used the precious few seconds he'd had from Mace's surprise attack on Dooku to don his helmet and was unleashing a hail of laserfire in Mace's direction.

But the bounty hunter had a serious disadvantage.

In the confines of the Archduke's box were the Separatist leaders, too valuable for the bounty hunter to strike.

Mace had no such compunctions, and the Force guided him in deflecting a pair of bolts in Archduke Poggle's direction.

The elderly Geonosian managed to dodge the first shot, but the second burned straight through his skull and dropped him to the stone floor.

Mace heard the Neimoidians shriek in terror, and he could feel a twinge of fear shoot through Jango Fett.

Drawing on his greatest gift, Mace called on the Force and viewed the box as a fractured jewel.

He had struck the Separatist's shatterpoint by killing Dooku, and now he searched for Fett's fault line.

The Force tugged his attention to a small Force presence, hidden in the recesses of the balcony.

Mace viewed the situation through Force-enhanced eyesight and saw a small human child, clad in a blue tunic and bearing a striking resemblance to Fett himself.

Even as his body was moving to redirect the bounty hunter's next shot towards the child, his mind protested.

Mace Windu was a Jedi Master, and he could not kill a defenseless child, not even the child of a vicious killer like Jango Fett.

But Mace was also a Master of Vapaad, and was used to walking the edge of the Dark Side.

And so he deflected Jango Fett's next shot at the child cowering in the corner and grazed the boy's arm.

The boy let out a cry of pain and Mace immediately felt Fett's resolve crumble in the face of the danger to his son.

The bounty hunter ceased his relentless attack and in a single fluid motion he snatched the boy up and fled the balcony, jet pack ferrying him and his son into the orange Geonosian sky.

With the last threat in the box dismissed, Mace turned on the Separatist leaders, holding his blade towards Nute Gunray's throat.

"You are under arrest Viceroy," he proclaimed.

The Neimoidian's face turned pale as the electric-violet blade hovered mere millimetres from his skin.

"Yes, yes, we surrender," he said, the Force turning sour with his fear.

Mace stared at the Viceroy with disgust, "Order all battle droids on the planet to shut down, Viceroy. Now!"

Gunray quivered in terror and looked at his aide, "Do as he says, Rune. Quickly."

The Neimoidian lackey nodded and reached into his robes for a comlink.

Mace made a gesture and the lackey was dragged forward by the invisible hand of the Force.

The violet blade moved to Rune's neck and Mace spoke in a cold, dangerous tone, "No tricks."

All the Separatist leaders quavered in fear, and Rune slowly removed a comlink from his robe and spoke into it in Basic, commanding the deactivation of all droid units on the planet.

Mace sensed no deception in his Force presence, and a few moments later he felt the danger that had been present in the Force dissipating. The droids were no longer a threat.

He stretched out with the Force to the now mostly empty arena, calling for the Council Masters to come and take custody of the surviving Separatists.

Stepping to the edge, he looked down to see a cluster of Jedi surrounding Obi-Wan, Anakin and Padme Amidala. They all appeared mostly unharmed, and the wreckage of the droidekas lay scattered around them.

The decapitated corpse of the reek rested on the sands, and in a far corner of the ring, Plo Koon was standing over the dismembered body of the acklay.

As Kit Fisto, Ki-Adi-Mundi and Adi Gallia entered the box and took the Separatist leaders prisoner, Mace Windu turned his gaze from the conquered arena to the corpse that lay at his feet.

A look of shock was forever emblazoned on Dooku's face and Mace stared at the large black hole in the former Jedi's chest.

He had done that, he thought. He had killed his oldest friend and comrade.

A shadow fell over the Geonosian arena and Mace looked up to see a dozen unfamiliar gunships descending on the desolate ring.

He stretched out with the Force and felt the familiar presence of Yoda.

Glancing down again at Dooku's corpse, Mace reached down and plucked the Count's lightsaber off his belt.

Squeezing the activator plate, he watched as a scarlet blade extended with a snap-hiss.

Mace stared at the deadly column of energy.

Dooku had become a Sith.

He had sensed the Dark side in his old friend and the color of Dooku's weapon only confirmed his choice.

_Dooku was evil_, he thought, _he deserved to die._

Mace Windu took one last look at the remains of what had once been a great Jedi Master and then turned away, heading into the darkness of the catacombs, the Sith lightsaber held in his dark hand.


End file.
